Mass Shooting Attempt Foiled After Gun Jams

A would-be workplace mass shooting in Florida was foiled Monday when the gunman’s weapon jammed, giving his 11 co-workers time to escape, police said.

After failing to inflict serious carnage at Jacksonville Granite in Orange Park, 34-year-old James Cameau shot one man in the backside before turning the gun on himself.

Though he’d lived in Orange Park, a Jacksonville suburb, most of his life, Cameau was a new employee who’d been with the company less than a month, Clay County Undersheriff Craig Aldrich said at a press conference.

Employees said that Cameau had been out of sorts recently, according to CBS affiliate WMAZ-TV.

During his lunch break, Cameau went home briefly before returning to work with a semi-automatic handgun. He walked around to the back of the building and found 11 employees there.

“You better run,” he warned, before trying to open fire.

The gun jammed, but Cameau continued trying to shoot, even as employees fled toward their cars.

Cameau gave chase and, when he got the gun working again, managed to hit some cars before shooting coworker Dean Hagins, Jr. in the backside.

Hagins was taken to a nearby hospital and is recovering.

“Thank you jesus for being with me today,” he wrote on his Facebook page Monday evening.

By the time police arrived on scene, Cameau had gone back inside the building to watch the security cameras. Authorities eventually found him in the security closet, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“A tragedy was averted today,” Aldrich said.

In addition to trying to shoot other employees, Aldrich said that Cameau had fired at the business owner and missed. Police said they’re not yet sure what the man’s motive was.

Cameau had been staying at a nearby hotel. He had no wife or children and his only prior arrests were for a DUI and driving without a license.